ls
in various gay devices. At last he produced the rifle,--a regular
Kentucky one, of Colt's making,--and what he considered a still greater
prize, a bell-mouthed thing half horse-pistol, half blunderbuss, which
he called "a almighty fine 'Harper's Ferry tool,' that would throw
thirty bullets through an oak panel two inches thick."

It was evident that he looked upon the whole equipment as worthy of the
most exalted possession, and he gazed on me as one whose lot was indeed
to be envied.

"Seth and the others leave this to-morrow a'ternoon," said he; "but if
ye be a-goin' to Austin, where the 'Spedeshin' puts up, take my advice,
and get away before 'em. You 've a fine road,--no trouble to find the
way; your beast will carry you forty, fifty, if you want it, sixty,
miles between sunrise and 'down;' and you 'll be snug over the journey
before they reach Killian's Mill, the half-way. An' if ye want to know
why I say so, it's just because that's too good a beast to tempt a
tramper wi', and them's all trampers!"

I gave the ostler a dollar for all his information and civility, and
re-entered the inn to have my supper. The cap'n had already returned
home, and after verifying my ticket, took my receipt for the mare, which
I gave in all form, writing my name, "Con Cregan," as though it were to
a check for a thousand pounds.

I supped comfortably, and then walked out to the stable to see Charcoal.
"Get her corn; you'll see if she don't, eat it in less than winkin',"
said the ostler; "and if she wor my beast, she'd never taste another
feed till she had her nose in the manger at Croft's Gulley."

"And where is Croft's Gulley?"

"It's the bottoms after you pass the larch wood; the road dips a bit,
and is heavy there, and it's a good baitin' place, just eighteen miles
from here."

"On the road to Austin?"

He nodded. "Ye see," he said, "the moon's a risin'; there's no one out
this time. Ye know what I said afore."

"I'll take the advice, then. Get the traps ready; I'll pack the
saddle-bags and set out."

If any one had asked me why I was in such haste to reach Austin, my
answer would have been, "To join the expedition;" and if interrogated,
"With what object then?" I should have been utterly dumbfoundered.
Little as I knew of its intentions, they must all have been above the
range of my ability and means to participate in. True, I had a horse
and a rifle; but there was the end of my worldly possessions, not to say
that